Venezuela marks one month since twin quakes: 5,398 dead, up to 44,000 missing, and a state accused of failure

The double earthquake

On June 24, 2026, at 18:04 local time, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Yaracuy state, 200 km west of Caracas. Thirty-nine seconds later, a second tremor of magnitude 7.5 followed. The shallow depth of 10 km and soft sedimentary soils in coastal La Guaira amplified the shaking, causing 190 buildings to collapse and severely damaging 856 more. The official death toll stands at 5,398 (some sources cite 5,346), with 16,740 injured and 6,462 rescued. The quakes hit on a national holiday, when La Guaira's beaches and hotels were crowded with visitors.

The missing: no official count

One month later, the government has not released an official figure for the missing. Citizen-run websites fill the gap: Venezuela Reporta lists 41,300 people unaccounted for, while Desaparecidos Terremoto Venezuela puts the number at 44,295. Other reports suggest at least 29,000. Jorge Cattaneo, global director of the NGO Ayuda en Acción, noted that estimates range from 40,000 to 70,000 but cautioned that double counting is likely.

When it comes to missing persons on such a large and serious scale, it is not simple.

Eloísa Molina, spokesperson for the Spanish Emergency Committee, stressed the need for coordinated information, as some reported missing may have been located without records being updated.

It is a figure that continues to worry and causes considerable unease. Still, these are numbers that must be treated with great caution.

Government response: delays and obstruction

The state's reaction has drawn sharp criticism. An investigation by Transparencia Venezuela found that the government reached its maximum operational deployment only 18 days after the quake. In the critical first 72 hours, rescue efforts were led by neighbours, volunteer firefighters, and 51 international teams from 28 countries. Venezuelan rescuers worked with sledgehammers and shovels.

We don't have the tools, we don't have the technology... we are in the Stone Age.

The National Guard, instead of aiding, set up QR-code checkpoints to control access to La Guaira from June 26, turning away volunteers and detaining firefighters. Soldiers were filmed looting rubble, and seven trucks of aid destined for a citizen collection centre were confiscated. Morgues charged families between $400 and $5,000 to release bodies. Former Civil Protection director Antonio Rivero said the armed forces operated under a state security doctrine rather than supporting citizens.

International aid and citizen search

International brigades from Mexico, El Salvador, the United States, Spain, and Chile were among the first to deploy. Yet one month on, families still camp beside collapsed towers, digging with their hands. Javier Navarro lost nine relatives in a collapsed Gran Misión Vivienda tower in Caraballeda; he waited this week for his mother's ashes while four bodies remain inside. The case of Cristina Ramos, a 70-year-old woman whose rescue went viral, ended with her family losing track of her after she was handed to health workers. Amir Infante, 16, survived 13 hours trapped in rubble before dying.

Reconstruction amid political fragility

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who assumed power after the US military intervention and arrest of Nicolás Maduro on January 3, has promised 4,000 new homes by December and handed over the first 240 apartments. Some 23,000 people live in 107 temporary camps in schools and stadiums, often without water or sanitation. The Gran Misión Vivienda program, launched by Hugo Chávez, is under scrutiny after many of its towers collapsed. Rodríguez and her brother Jorge, the parliamentary president, were booed when they visited La Guaira 48 hours after the disaster.

What they did was hinder and obstruct international solidarity from rescuers and donations, instead of facilitating and helping those affected.